Can mild alcohol interfere with ARVs?

Can mild alcohol interfere with ARVs?

Hello LVCT,

I was recently put on ARVs. I feel very stressed because it suggests that am getting sicker. I have never disclosed my HIV status to anyone even though I’ve been positive for eight years now. I deal with my stress by taking alcohol. I feel better when I drink. Is it okay to just take some alcohol such as wine as long as it’s not hard liquor? Please help, it’s the only source of consolation I have for now.

Kim

Hello Kim,

We are happy that you find this column useful. Congratulations on taking ARVs, it may surprise you but there are still some people living with HIV who for various reasons refuse to take ARVs even when a doctor has advised that they need them. We hope that you are following your doctor’s instructions on how to take this lifelong treatment.

In a way you are very lucky that we now have freely available and effective treatment like this, which will give you a healthier life, so look on the brighter side.

Let’s just start by saying that alcohol, whether it is wine, whiskey, beer, changaa or any other, is a substance. Like other substances, it has potential to be addictive, impair your judgment, reduce appetite for food, interfere with your sleep, weaken the immune system and interfere with certain medicines.

Excessive alcohol use increases the risks of not taking your ARVs as required and skipping doses. Alcohol may also increase the risk of side effects of the ARVs. Although there is some evidence that moderate drinking does not appear to have an impact on how quickly HIV progresses or on the effectiveness of ARVs, it is advisable not to take alcohol as a means of dealing with your HIV status.

We recommend that you consider getting support from a counsellor at a VCT on disclosing your HIV status and living positively. It is also advisable that you join a support group where you can meet and share with other people living with HIV and learn other skills of coping with HIV besides alcohol.

Hello LVCT,

I am 15 years old and I live with my grandmother. I’ve heard rumours from other children that my mother died of Aids, I don’t know my father. Am very thin and I get sick very often, mostly malaria and cold.

Am not very active like other boys, I get tired a lot. I get scared that maybe I got HIV from my mother, is this possible?

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for writing to us and sorry to hear about your frequent illness. It is very possible that a woman who is HIV positive can infect her unborn child during pregnancy, when giving birth or through breastfeeding.

Luckily, these days we have medication that can prevent this from happening and is available free of charge at health facilities. Often when the baby does not get this treatment there is a high chance of getting infected with HIV.

Most babies who get infected with HIV and are not put on treatment early do not live beyond the age of two years. This may be good news for you as you are already 15 years old, but it does not confirm your status. We suggest that you have a HIV test, which will confirm your status and allay your anxiety whether positive or negative, as you will be provided with the necessary treatment to keep you healthy if you are positive.

Unprotected sex is another means of getting HIV; so we would like to encourage you to continue to abstain if you are not yet sexually active and when you do become sexually active, always use a condom correctly with each sexual encounter.